battle - if there ever was one - is
over.
In a flashy presentation to advertisers
Wednesday night, Google Executive
Chairman Eric Schmidt declined to
forecast that Internet video will
displace television watching. Instead
he declared: "That's already
happened."
Schmidt said "the future is now" for
YouTube, which recently passed the
milestone of 1 billion unique visitors
every month. But, he added with the
Third World in mind, if you think that's
a large number, "wait until you get to
6 (billion) or 7 billion."
Schmidt and YouTube, which billed the
event as a "brandcast," shifted away
from the video platform's relationship
to TV. A year ago, YouTube seemed
to have its sights set on reinventing
television by funding the launch of
more than 100 channels from well-
known media brands and Hollywood
personalities.
But that initiative went unmentioned
at Wednesday's presentation, held at
a Lower East Side pier as part of a
week of "NewFronts," (digital media's
version of the TV tradition of
promoting programming and selling
ads). Though the model for the
evening was TV, YouTube used it to
distinguish itself as something entirely
different.
"It's not a replacement for something
that we know," said Schmidt. "It's a
new thing that we have to think about,
to program, to curate and build new
platforms."
The presentation featured
performances by Snoop Dogg and
Macklemore, as well as YouTube
personalities like Felicia Day. YouTube
focused on its global reach,
community engagement and
enormous audience.
"I thought that YouTube was like TV,
but it isn't. I was wrong," said Robert
Kyncl, YouTube's global head of
content. "TV is one-way. YouTube
talks back."
Some comparisons were inevitable.
One fact highly touted was that more
18- to 34-year-olds watch YouTube
than any cable network.
"TV means reach," said Kyncl.
"YouTube means engagement."
Though companies like Yahoo and AOL
have used their NewFront
presentations to announce new slates
of original programming, YouTube
made no programming
announcements Wednesday night.
It did, though, announce a partnership
with the Association of National
Adverstisers' Alliance for Family
Entertainment to create more digital
family content.
YouTube also celebrated DreamWorks
Animation's purchase Wednesday of
the teen-focused YouTube network
Awesomeness TV for $33 million.
DreamWorks CEO Jeffery Katzenberg
appeared with Awesomeness founder
and CEO Brian Robbins, the former
"Head of the Class" actor.
"This is a whole new form of content,
content delivery and content
consumption," said Katzenberg. "It's
the medium of the future and the
future has already arrived."
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